Textile beam



May 2, 1967 J. P. LAIRD 3,317,160

TEXTILE BEAM Filed Jan. 14, 1964 llllil? mill/.0

INVENTOR. J. P004 491/?0 United States Patent Ofi 3,317,160" Patented May 2, 1967 ice 3,317,160 TEXTILE BEAM Joseph Paul Laird, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Hayes Industries, Inc., Jackson, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Jan. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 337,649 Claims. (Cl. 242-118.62)

This invention relates to an improved construction for a beam used in the textile industry for handling yarns.

Conventional beam constructions which have found wide acceptance in the textile industry, employ a pair of heads one of which is secured to each end of a barrel forming a joint at each end of the barrel between abutting surfaces on the barrel end and on each head. In one widely used construction, disclosed in US. Patent 2,683,- 573, each head is threaded onto one end of the barrel; in other constructions, each head is bolted to the barrel.

When yarn is wound on the beam around the barrel and between the heads, the load on the heads gradually increases, and while this load varies considerably with the size of the beam, the type of yarn, and the tension under which the yarn is wound, in most cases it will be sufiiciently high to cause some deflection of the heads. Such deflection is accompanied by some separation between the abutting surfaces of each joint between the barrel and one of the heads with the result that yarn filaments can fall into the joint and become trapped there when the yarn is unwound and the load on the heads gradually removed. This occurrence is particularly prevalent with beams employed for handling fine denier, more expensive yarns and results in a loss of both time and yarn.

' It is an object of the present invention to provide a beam construction of the type employing a joint between each head and the barrel which will prevent yarn filaments from becoming entrapped in the joint, and to provide this advantage without materially affecting the cost of the beam.

According to the invention a textile beam construction of the type employing a pair of heads one of which is secured to each end of a barrel forming a joint between abutting surfaces on each end of the barrel and the adjacent head, and which abutting surfaces can separate due to deflection resulting from the load imposed upon the heads when the beam is wound with yarn thereby permitting yarn filaments to be entrapped in the joint, is characterized by at least the outer portions of the abutting surfaces on the barrel and head each being formed substantially normal to a line extending from the joint to the approximate center about which a head deflects under load whereby such deflection of a head results in sliding rather than separating relative movement between the abutting surfaces of the joint. For theoretically perfect relative sliding movement, the abutting surfaces at the joint would each be formed as a segment of an arc of a circle whose center is approximately the center about which a head deflects under load, but since the lengthof such an arc is relatively small in comparison to the radius, and the amountof deflection is relatively small, the abutting surfaces may be satisfactorily formed approximately normal to the radius as surfaces which extend at an angle to the face of the head. Due to variations in dimensions of beams, there will be variations in the angle on which the surfaces are formed, but results of my work to date indicate that this angle will be between 30 and 60 degrees to the vertical or face of the head of the beam.

Those skilled in the art will have no difliculty comprehending the invention and putting it into practice from the following description thereof supplemented by reference to the representative embodiments disclosed in the accompanying drawings which consist of the following views:

FIGURE 1, a side elevation of a loaded textile beam;

FIGURE 2, an enlarged sectional elevation of a joint between one end of the barrel and one head as formed in conventional practice;

FIGURE 3, a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the separation of the joint which takes place when the beam is loaded;

FIGURE 4, an elevation of a joint between a barrel and head of a beam showing one form of construction obtained by application of the principles of the present invention; and

FIGURE 5, a sectional elevation similar to FIG. 4 showing another form of commercially acceptable construction.

The conventional textile beam illustrated in FIG. 1 consists of a pair of heads and 11 each secured to one end of a barrel 12, with this assembly of heads and barrel being mounted on a spindle 14 so that the beam may be rotated by suitable means to load it with yarn 16.

FIG. 2 illustrates a typical construction such as disclosed in US. Patent 2,683,573 for connecting a head to the'barrel employing an internally threaded portion 18 adjacent each end of the barrel 12 and an externally threaded portion 20 formed on an inwardly directed annular hub 22 of the head 11. When the parts are assembled as shown, a joint 24 is formed between the end surface 26 of the barrel and a shoulder '28 adjacent the inner face 30 of the head.

The yarn 16 is wound on the beam under tension which varies with the denier and type of the yarn. Some yarns are naturally elastic. They stretch during the winding operation and tend to expand onthe beam. These factors together with the relatively great amount of yarn wound on a beam cause a force to be exerted against the faces 30 of the beam heads 10 and 11 great enough to deflect them.

This condition is illustrated in FIG. 3. Deflection of the head 11 caused by the force exerted by the wound yarn against the face 30 thereof is accompanied by a separation of the abutting surfaces 26 and 28 of the joint 24. Yarn filaments will fall into the space between the joint faces and become trapped when the beam is unwound and the force which caused the separation at the joint is removed from the heads. Some yarn is thus wasted and time must be taken to clean the beam of the trapped filaments.

Deflection of the head of a beam when wound with yarn may be considered to take place about a circular center or fulcrum the location of which can be determined or computed fairly accurately by those skilled in the art of structural analysis. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 where the center of deflection of the head 11 is indicated by the dot 32, representing a circular line located on the neutral axis of the beam near the location of maximum bending. The location of this neutral axis is a function of the dimensions of the beam and does not change with the yarn load applied to the beam. In this construction the end of the barrel 12a is provided with an outer annular surface 34, formed in section as a segment of an arc of a circle whose center is the center of deflection 32, and with an inner annular shoulder formed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the barrel. A complementary annular arcuate portion 38 is formed on the head intermediate the base of the inner face 30 and the threaded portion 20 thereof and joined to the portion 20 by a shoulder 39. The shoulder 35 on the barrel and the shoulder 39 on the head form abutting surfaces which accurately determine the spacing between the heads and the distance between the shoulder 35 and surface 34 of the barrel is made a few thousandths of an inch greater than the corresponding dimension of the head so that the respective arcuate surfaces 34 and 38 are placed in true abutting relation when the head is assembled to the barrel.

An alternate commercially acceptable construction is .shown in FIG. 5 which also illustrates the use of bolts 41 for connecting a head llb to a barrel 12b. Since the arcuate surfaces 34 and 38 in FIG. 4 are relatively short in comparison with their distance from the center of deflection 32, arid since the amount of deflection is relatively small, the surfaces can be made as chords of an arc, in other words, formed normal to a radial line from the center of deflection 32, or approximately parallel to the neutral axis. Thus the head 11!) is provided with an annular surface 42 which in section lies at an angle to the face 30 of the head so as to extend substantially normal to the radial line. A radial shoulder 43 extends between the cylindrical hub portion 44 of the head and the surface 42, the surface 42. being preferably located as close to the inner face 30 of the head as is practical. The end of the barrel 12b is formed with an internal ring 46 into which the bolts 41 are threaded, and with an internal surface 47 engaged by the hub 44 of the head. A terminal radial shoulder 48 and annular angular surface 50 are formed for abutting engagement with the corresponding head surfaces 43 and 42.

The angular surfaces 42 and 50 of FIG. 5 are preferred over the arcuate surfaces 34 and 38 of FIG. 4 because of ease of machining, for either a threaded or bolted type of beam construction.

Since the location of the center of deflection 32 will vary according to the size and design of the head of the beam, the angle at which the surfaces 42 and 50 are formed will also vary. The results of work performed to date on various sizes and designs of beam heads indicate that the angle at which the surfaces 42 and 50 are formed will vary between 30 and 60 degrees to the vertical or face of the head. On a 21 inch tricot beam with surfaces 42 and 50 formed at an angle of 45 degrees, no opening appeared between the surfaces of the joint under a test load of 300,000 pounds.

It can be seen that the forming of the angular surfaces 42 and 50 will not appreciably affect the cost of manufacturing the barrel and heads of a beam and yet will effectively prevent the difiiculties encountered from separation of the abutting surfaces of the head and barrel under load as previously discussed.

While preferred embodiments have been described above in detail, it will be understood that numerous modifications might be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim: I

1. A textile beam construction of the type employing a barrel and a pair of heads one of which is secured to each end of the barrel forming a joint between abutting surfaces on each end of the barrel and the adjacent head and which abutting surfaces can separate due to deflection resulting from the load imposed upon the heads when the beam is wound with yarn thereby permitting yarn filaments to be entrapped in the joint, characterized by said abutting surfaces on the barrel and head each being formed substantially normal to a line extending from the joint to the approximate center about which a head deflects under said load and the said abutting surfaces on each end of the barrel intersecting the outer yarn-supporting surface thereof whereby such deflection of a head results in sliding rather than separating relative movement between said abutting surfaces.

2. A textile beam construction of the type employing a tubular barrel and a pair of heads one of which is secured to each end of the barrel, each head including a hub portion and an outwardly extending flange having a yarn retaining face, said hub portion having an annular surface formed thereon at an angle to the face of between 30 and 60 degrees, and a correspondingly angular surface formed on each end of the barrel intersecting the outer yarn-supporting surface thereof for abutting engagement with said annular surface of the head whereby deflection of the head resulting from force exerted by yarn against the yarn retaining face thereof is accompanied by relative sliding movement between the angular surfaces on the head and on the end of the barrel.

3. A textile beam construction according to claim 2 further characterized by each head and each end of the barrel being formed to provide abutting shoulders extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the barrel adjacent to and axially inward of the said abutting angular surfaces.

4. A textile beam construction of the type employing a tubular barrel and a pair of heads one of which is secured to each end of the barrel, each head including a hub portion and an outwardly extending flange having a yarn retaining face, said hub portion having an annular surface formed thereon as a segment of an arc whose center is the approximate center of deflection of the head under the force exerted by wound yarn against the yarn retaining face of the head, and a complementary annular arcuate surface formed on each end of the barrel intersecting the outer yarn-supporting surface thereof for abutting engagement with said arcuate surface of the head whereby deflection of the head resulting from said force is accompanied by relative sliding movement between the abutting arcuate surfaces on the head and on the end of the barrel.

5. A textile beam construction of the type employing a barrel and a pair of heads one of which is secured to each end of the barrel forming a joint between abutting surfaces on each end of the barrel and the adjacent head and which abutting surfaces can separate due to deflection resulting from the load imposed upon the heads when the beam is wound with yarn thereby permitting yarn filaments to be entrapped in the joint, characterized by said abutting surfaces on the barrel and head each being formed substantially parallel to the neutral axis of the head and the said abutting surfaces on each end of the barrel intersecting the outer yarn-supporting surface thereof whereby such deflection of a head results in sliding rather than separating relative movement between said abutting surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

6. F. MAUTZ, Assistant Examiner. 

5. A TEXTILE BEAM CONSTRUCTION OF THE TYPE EMPLOYING A BARREL AND A PAIR OF HEADS ONE OF WHICH IS SECURED TO EACH END OF THE BARREL FORMING A JOINT BETWEEN ABUTTING SURFACES ON EACH END OF THE BARREL AND THE ADJACENT HEAD AND WHICH ABUTTING SURFACES CAN SEPARATE DUE TO DEFLECTION RESULTING FROM THE LOAD IMPOSED UPON THE HEADS WHEN THE BEAM IS WOUND WITH YARN THEREBY PERMITTING YARN FILAMENTS TO BE ENTRAPPED IN THE JOINT, CHARACTERIZED BY SAID ABUTTING SURFACES ON THE BARREL AND HEAD EACH BEING FORMED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE NEUTRAL AXIS OF THE HEAD AND THE SAID ABUTTING SURFACES ON EACH END OF THE BARREL INTERSECTING THE OUTER YARN-SUPPORTING SURFACE THEREOF WHEREBY SUCH DEFLECTION OF A HEAD RESULTS IN SLIDING RATHER THAN SEPARATING RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID ABUTTING SURFACES. 